64 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS. 



POST SCRIPTUM. In the Badminton Library (" Shooting 

 Moor and Marsh," p. 3) exception is taken to the above re- 

 marks on the feeding habits of grouse. The author, one of 

 the first sportsmen of the day, questions rather than disputes 

 their accuracy, holding that the evidence adduced does not 

 amount to proof. Possibly, to that extent, his contention is 

 correct ; but how singular it is that one of the everyday 

 habits of a game-bird, which, for more years than I can tell, 

 has been studied and pursued annually by thousands of 

 sportsmen, should still, apparently, be open to question ? 



